₦airaland Forum

dead Zainab.

where is this DPO?
this man must be found and charged with murder. Nigerian police should be scrapped.

Death In DPO's Office - Political Aspirant Possibly violated And Murdered


When Princess Zainab Chinasa Uwakwe won a beauty pageant in Lagos, in 1992, at a younger age, she was full of life. Even at 39, she was still beautiful, with an arresting smile. However, she was not just a beauty. She’s also had brain, for business and politics. A professional caterer with sublime skills, her business interests had expanded into oil marketing and she did raise her outfit, DZ Wins Company Limited, Aba, to a notable brand. And she wanted to become a legislator in Abia State. But she died. She died a few months away from tying the nuptial knot with her heartthrob, Ray, who lives abroad.

Zainab died on October 5 last year in controversial circumstances. She died in the office of a Divisional Police Officer (DPO), in Aba. Her ugly story started after a political meeting, in connection with her ambition of representing Aba North State Constituency in the Abia State House of Assembly. She had got a call to come to Cameroun Road Police Barracks, Aba, to see the then Division Police Officer (DPO), Mr. Kabir A. Ishaq, a Superintendent of Police (SP). She did not leave the DPO’s office alive.

Since last year October till date, nobody has been docked for her death. Also, nothing has been said about her burial, as her corpse has remained in the mortuary. And her family is worried. Also, members of the family of the late Mazi Peter Uwakwe of Amakpor autonomous community, in Igbere, Bende Local Government Area, Abia State, are alleging plot to swept the incident under the carpet.

Zainab’s younger sister, Favour Nkechi Peter, said that[size=14pt] t[b]he DPO, in whose office the lady died, has been transferred to Katsina State.[/b] [/size]She also alleged that other officers who were at the police station when the incident happened have been transferred to other police formations.

Tragic story
With tears rushing down her cheeks and voice quaking in palpable pains, Favour told the story of the shocking death of her sister: “October 5, 2010 will forever remain fresh in my memory. That day, I left for work in the morning and came back at about 6.00pm only to discover that my sister was not yet at home. It was unusual because she rarely stayed out beyond 6.00 pm. So, I called her telephone numbers some minutes after 6.00 pm, to know what was keeping her from coming home, but she didn’t pick her calls. After some minutes, I called her again, but got no answers. I then remembered that she left home with a cousin of ours, Mr. Nkem Igbokwe in a car. I called him to ask what was keeping them and where they were.

“Nkem said that he was in the car waiting for aunty to come out, referring to our big sister, Princess Zainab. I asked him where they were and he said that they were at the Police Station on Cameroun Road, Aba. He said that they came to see the DPO. I asked Nkem what took them there and he said that after they came out from a political meeting, because she was aspiring to contest the Abia State House of Assembly election to represent Aba North State Constituency and on their way home, she received a call from someone who said that he was having some problems at the Police Station. The caller, who she probably knew, told her that the DPO was proving too difficult to release him and all that. The caller urged her to come there and use her influence to talk to the DPO.
“According to Nkem, she then directed him to head to the Police Station but before getting there, she had to call the DPO first because the DPO had been asking her to see him for a long time, saying there was something he had to talk about with her. Zainab had previously told me that the DPO wanted to see her but that she didn’t know why he wanted to see her.

“On that day, when she called the DPO, he said that there was a case that needed her attention. So, she told him that she was coming. When they got to the Police Station, she met a police officer at the DPO’s reception and told him that she wanted to see the DPO. The officer told her to wait because the DPO was with some people in his private office. She told him that he could not wait because she needed to go home, having been exhausted for the day. So, she called the DPO on phone and told him that she was around. The DPO came out of his office to welcome her and invited her in. As they were about entering his office, she told the DPO that her cousin (Nkem) was outside. The DPO then told Nkem to give them some minutes, saying that my sister would be right back. My sister then told him to wait for her in car and assured him that she would be out shortly.

“When Nkem waited for about an hour without seeing her, he called her phone but she did not pick her calls. Nkem thought that they were still busy and wondered what it was that was keeping her there because it was unusual for big sister to be in a particular office for that long. As Nkem was waiting and wondering what could be happening, I called him to know where they were and he told me that he was still waiting for her inside the car at the police station. I told him to leave the car and enter the DPO’s office to know what was still keeping her. When Nkem got there, even the police officer at the reception wasn’t there anymore. He knocked at the DPO’s office, but there was no response and he came out. Then some police officers from the other section came to him and asked him if he was looking for anybody. He told them that he was looking for his cousin that he came there with.”

Tale develops twist
Favour said: “Nkem said that they asked him if he was related to the lady that came in and he said yes. Nkem said that they then asked for his phone number and he asked them what they wanted to do with his phone number. He told them to show him where his sister was, so that they could go home. After some arguments, he released his number to them. On getting back to the car to continue waiting, he received a call from an anonymous caller who told him to come to New Era Hospital, Aba, where his sister had been rushed to because she was very sick. He asked the caller what kind of sickness was he talking about and he told Nkem that she took excessive alcohol. Nkem again asked under how she could have taken excessive alcohol; moreover she was fasting that day and was supposed to see the DPO briefly and come out because she was exhausted. According to him, all these questions were running through his mind.”

Mistaken identity
According to Favour, “Nkem immediately gave us a call at home, saying that we should come to New Era Hospital, Aba. Time was about 9 p.m. I left the home and rushed to New Era Hospital. On getting to the hospital, Nkem, my in-law, elder sister, some friends and I asked them if any lady was rushed in there and they said yes. They even wrote her name as Nene Udah because the DPO did not know her real name. If at all the DPO knew her very well, he should be able to know her full names. But the DPO told them that her name was Nene Udah, thinking that she was the daughter of one of our family friends.

“They told us to go and verify if the lady that was brought in was Princess or Nene Udah. How we were able to locate the room she was lying in was the groaning we heard coming out of it. When we came in, she wasn’t wearing anything at the top but she still had her skirt because she was putting on a traditional attire. I looked around and saw her top, where it was kept and used it to cover her up before others could come in. We asked the doctors and nurses why she was in that state and they said that she was rushed in unconscious. We asked them what happened to her and they said that it was a patrol team from Ndiegoro Police Division that brought her there, adding that they told them that she took excessive alcohol. I smelt her breath but there was no alcohol in it. At least, someone who they claimed took a bottle of Hennessy should have the smell of alcohol in her breath. They said that she took a bottle of Hennessy and a can of Bullet energy drink all alone, yet there was no smell of alcohol in her breath. It was unbelievable.”

Half Unclad
Favour said she continued to interrogate the hospital staff, revealing: “I asked the doctors and nurses how come she was half Unclad; they said that they took off her top and bra and put on the fan so that it could revive her. She was on drip as well. I asked how many drips had she taken and they said that she was on the third. I asked how could she be on the third drip between two and three hours interval. I asked if they did any medical examination on her before administering any treatment and they said no. They said that based on what they were told that she took alcohol, they gave her some injections and pints of drip.
“Then I started looking closely at my elder sister and saw that her neck was swollen with visible marks, just like when someone is slapped on the face and the finger marks appeared. I called the attention of the other people there to see what I was seeing. She was still groaning, totally unconscious; if anyone was there she never knew. And her tongue was in-between her teeth. The inevitable question is, what happened to her neck to make it swollen? Yes, she was plump but I knew the size of her neck. So, if anything happened to her, one could tell.

“When some of my siblings left, I stayed behind so that if she woke up she could see someone around. They left between 9 p.m. and 10 p.m. and I was alone with her. The nurses were coming to check on her after which they left. Some minutes later, she stopped groaning and I called the attention of a nurse. The nurse came in, checked on her and went to call the doctor. The doctor came in, checked her and confirmed her dead.”

Missing pant
What was her reaction when the doctor confirmed the sister dead? Favour said: “I couldn’t believe it. I was holding her in my and I never knew that she had passed out. I only knew that she had stopped groaning. After the doctor confirmed her dead, I called my people and they rushed back to the hospital that night. We looked her over and saw that her skirt was soaked with blood. This was a full grown woman, a business woman and well respected in society; how could she be in that state. She was my elder sister, she shared a lot of things in common and lived in the same house; so I lifted her skirt and found out that her undies were not there. How come her undies were not there? The nurses said that they did not know. She was in a pool of blood. That was when I raised the alarm that this could be violation.”

CP’s reaction
Favour said she called state’s commissioner of police: “I called the Commissioner of Police, Jonathan Johnson, the next day when her remains were being taken to the mortuary, to tell him what had happened. I never knew that he had already heard it and he knew my late sister very well. He asked it was true that Princess was dead? Who was the guy that took her to the police station? And why would the guy leave her to enter into the DPO’s office alone? That was exactly the words of Jonathan Johnson. That was crazy in my own sight. This was a full grown woman and you are now blaming the young guy that dropped her there, who is younger than her by far and who takes orders from her. He said that I should bring the guy immediately to his office at Umuahia. I asked him if that was all he had to say? He said yes, that he wanted to see the guy immediately. I said okay and dropped the call. I did not call him again.
“Meanwhile, the DPO that my sister came to see, switched off her phones. Why did he switch off her telephones when they were ringing? When my people went to see him and asked him why he switched off Princess’ telephones, he said that the telephones were making a hell of noise. Okay, somebody came to your office and you said that the person fell sick, why didn’t you pick her calls because it might be her family calling or search through her phone and call her relatives or even go and call the person she came with who was waiting in the car? You never let the person she came with know what was happening, instead you took her out through another gate to the hospital.”

More twists
Favour accused the police of trying to frame her sister up, saying that hard drugs were planted in her bag to make her a criminal.
According to her, “after it happened, they planted some hard drugs in her handbag. Thereafter, the DPO asked my siblings that went to see him in his office to take the handbag but my elder brother said no. He told the DPO that when they needed the handbag, they would come and take it. Her telephones, gold jewellery and even slippers were gone. That same day, we got a call from a police officer who did not disclose his name but he told us that hard drugs had been planted in the handbag to make it look like my sister was into drugs.

“When we reported the case at Zone 9, the man was called. The person handling the case was Obiakor, an Assistant Commissioner of Police then, but he is now the Commissioner of Police in Nasarawa State. Obiakor really did a good job by calling a lot of police officers that were on duty, interviewed them and they confirmed that the lady came in hale and hearty but the next thing was that the police officer called them and told them to take the body away when she was already half dead. There were some people in the office when she came. Now, the question is, who were those people in his office that he never wanted another person to see? This shows that the death was planned and executed.
“When the case was raising dust, Obiakor was doing a lot of investigations. When the case was at the table of the commissioner, the commissioner didn’t do anything. He didn’t arrest the DPO until the case was transfrered from the State CID to Zone 9. It was when the case got to Zone 9 that Obiakor took the action.”

Autopsy
Favour said the autopsy revealed much. She revealed: “Finally, the autopsy was done. My family hired a pathologist to oversee the autopsy. The person, who did the autopsy, was Dr Wilson but the person we hired to oversee the process was Professor Nwosu, Head of Pathology at the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital. When the autopsy was done, there was a lot of blood that clotted in her neck to show the sign of strangulation. They said that there was no issue of violation. They said that the blood was as a result of her menstruation. The question again is, where went the undies of a woman that was menstruating? If there was no attempt of violation and/or to strangle her, where were her undies? Third, they said that they found about 80 per cent of alcohol in her system but how could that be when she suffered stomach ulcer and had stopped taking alcohol for a long time.

“We are now saying that if at all the result of the autopsy they gave out was true, then certainly something must have gone wrong. It could be that they forced her to take that quantity of alcohol. It could be under duress, at gun point. Anything can happen. It could be that she was forced to take the alcohol so that in the event of an autopsy, they would say that alcohol was responsible. Between the time she entered the office and the time she was brought to the hospital, how could she have comfortably taken a bottle of Hennessy? She had just finished a political meeting and in the meeting she did not take anything, not even water. The water she had, she even took it from the house. She didn’t even take kolanut at the meeting because she was fasting. She was supposed to break the fast when she got home but she did not know that she would never come back home.”

Matter taken to Abuja
Favour said that although the matter was taken to Abuja, “our concern now is that ever since this thing happened, the police has been dilly-dallying. We know how much we’ve spent on this case. Our lawyer, Mr. Charles Akwuete, has tried to bring back the case because they took the case out of Abia State without our knowledge. They just called us one day and said that we should start coming to Abuja. It was when the man was taken to Abuja that he was released. Why would the IGP, Hafiz Ringim, order the release of somebody in whose office a lady died in suspicious circumstance? Is it because of where we come from?”
She said that the family, through its lawyer, had made concerted effort to obtain justice.

“Our lawyer has been writing, saying that the case should be brought back to the Abia State DPP and tried there because that is the place where the crime took place before it could be taken elsewhere. We’ve written to the Police Service Commission, yet nothing has happened. Rather they transferred him (DPO) to Katsina State, where he is still serving as a policeman,” she said.

Asked about the guy the late Zainab was supposed to help out at the Police Station, Favour said: “Thank you for that question. Nobody saw that guy. Till today, nobody knows of him. That’s to tell that it was planned. She alone knew the person and her phones are still with the police. She went there with four of her phones and the police are yet to return them.”

Quest for justice
The Uwakwes have been seeking justice to no avail. They have written series of petitions to different persons and organisations for assistance on the matter without much success. In a petition to AIG, Zone 9, Umuahia, through their lawyer, Akwuete Charles & Co, they noted: “The deceased was served drink, which was suspected to have been drugged by the DPO apparently to have undue intimate advantage over her.”
The petition dated 0ctober 23, 2010 further explained: “As the family approached the DPO the following day for explanations of what actually happened in his office, he was bold enough to admit that he served her Hennessey. He also produced her hand bag, which he kept in his custody. As he opened the bag and poured out the contents on his table for all to see, one of the contents was her inner wear (pant). Incidentally, Supol Ishaq Kabiru was unable to reasonably explain how her inner wear got into the bag in his custody among many other questions.”
The petition also urged the AIG to use his “good offices to ensure that investigation and prosecution of Supol Kabiru and others involved in the death of deceased are brought to book in the interest of justice.”

Another petition to the IGP, through Akwuete Charles & Co and dated November 17, 2010, said: “The suspect was later subjected to interrogations on the unnatural death of the deceased based on the petition to the Assistant Inspector General of Police, Zone 9, Umuahia by the family of the deceased. Interviews between the suspect and our client with their witnesses at Zone 9, Police Headquarters, Umuahia revealed that the suspect had very serious questions to answer about the death of the deceased. This prompted the zonal police command to direct the parties to conduct an autopsy on the deceased so as to further the investigations.

“The family of the deceased objected to a police pathologist conducting the autopsy alone in order not to prejudice them. The police conceded to this and allowed the family to present their independent pathologist who shall conduct the autopsy alongside the police pathologist.
“Sir, we regret to inform you that more than 15 days after the family’s pathologist turned in the result of his autopsy, the police pathologist has failed and or refused to release the autopsy result till date. This deliberate act has thereby heightened fears of possible police compromise as initially alleged by the family of the deceased. This not withstanding, the autopsy result available to us by the Professor pathologist consultant who represented our client shows that the decease died an unnatural death and the suspect has a very serious case to answer.

“With the level of investigation so far, the proper thing for the police to do would have been to refer the case file to the Attorney General of Abia State for his legal opinion and action. Instead of resorting to this clear procedure of criminal investigation and procedure, the police, in active connivance with the collaborators of the suspect at the Force Headquarters Abuja, has successfully directed that the case file and the suspect be transferred to Abuja. Consequently, the suspect and the file are now at the Force Headquarters Abuja.

“Sir, we view the foregoing as a deliberate and desperate attempt to frustrate the investigation of this heinous crime of murder of the deceased by the suspect. This is not only because the suspect has wider connection at the Force Headquarters that can be used to frustrate and compromise the investigation, but also the family of the deceased will be greatly prejudiced by this transfer, which will require them to air lift their witnesses and solicitors to Abuja for the purpose of this investigation with its attendant heavy cost on finances and risk.”
The petition further claimed that there are subtle attempts to “conceal and frustrate evidence in the matter by transferring policemen who were on duty on the date of the incident.

“We state categorically that the said transfer of the policemen from the division was not done in good faith. The transfers were calculated to frustrate their attendance to interviews in this case, so as to give the suspect a good control and undue advantage over the case,” the petition said.
Copies of the petition were sent to the Minister of Police Affairs, Senate Committee on Public Petitions, House of Representatives Committee on Public Petitions, Police Service Commission, National Human Rights Commission, Public Complaints Commission, Nigeria Bar Association, Civil Society Organizations and Nigeria Union of Journalists.

In the same vein, Igbere Welfare Union (IWU), in a petition to IGP and dated November 25, 2010, said: “We the entire people of Igbere clan resident in Aba metropolis wish to report to you about the possible attempt to frustrate the investigation of the murder of Princess Zainab Chinasa Uwakwe who died on her visit to Supol Ishaq Kabiru.

“In view of the serious question of complicity against Supol Kabiru in the murder of the deceased, as revealed so far by both the police investigation and pathologists, we are surprised to hear that the case file and the suspect have been transferred to Abuja without the family’s knowledge as complaints.”
Signed by Chijoke Izuka, secretary of IWU, the petition suggested that to show transparency and fairness in the investigations, the case should be returned to Umuahia.

Grieving mother and daughter
It was further gathered that Zainab’s mother’s health had deteriorated, as a result of the death of her daughter and the way the matter is being handled. “Mama, who is hypertensive, is living by the grace of God because she keeps shedding tears every minute of the day. We know that Zainab cannot come back but at least let justice be done to assuage the pains of her death in such in a horrendous manner,” Favour said.
She said that Zainab’s nine-year-old daughter has been asking: “Where is my mummy? When is she coming back?”

Police react
Efforts to speak with the Abia Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Mr. Geoffrey Ogbonnaya, on the matter, proved abortive as he did not pick or return his calls. He also did not respond to text messages sent to his phone. However, when contacted on telephone, the Investigation Police Officer (IPO), Mr. Itah, said that the matter is now with the legal department at the Force Headquarters, Abuja.

http://www.sunnewsonline.com/webpages/news/national/2011/oct/22/national-22-10-2011-01.html

Katsumoto:
I am for corporations trying to increase profit through innovations and improved efficiency but I will not sign up for complete capitalism. The people through its government must provide regulation for the common good of society. If every man acts in his best, then society is doomed. The US is not the only country with stock market. Why is it that there is less volatility in the stock markets of the Scandinavian countries, Australia, and Canada? It is because those countries try to find a good balance. Why should a corporation move operations abroad, fire workers and then expect to import those goods and services back into the US for unemployed workers to buy? Apart from an obvious economic issue here, there is a moral and social one as well. Governments should introduce high tariffs and taxes for corporations who do that to discourage that practice.

You have to realise that extreme capitalism will not only bring about economic problems like that experienced during the great depression and currently in the US and Europe but it also brings social problems. With all of the wealth in the US, why does it have more economic related crime than China and India combined? The constant need for growth is what causes problems in the US. The US, France, and UK all, individually, have more billionaires and Fortune 500 companies than Germany but which country has the lowest poverty, crime, etc? Germany of course. Because the German Mittlestand model promotes empowerment of many rather than a few as practised in the UK, US, and France.

Don't get me wrong, I am not for taxing the rich heavily to distribute to lazy people in the form of welfare but I am for an enabling environment. Barriers to entry is very high in most industries in the US. The IT industry is about the only industry with a lower barrier to entry but even that is creeping up gradually. Most new software companies now require heavy investment from VCs who always demand equity.

How can Americans have a tax system that ensures Buffett pays lower tax than his secretary? Billionaires in the US get away with paying little or no tax; that's not possible in Northern Europe.

It is only a cut-throat world in the US; I suggest you visit the Scandinavian countries and observe how people strike a good balance (work/life; capitalism/socialism). Those living in the US are always stressed, don't relax, work too many hours and then get given 10 - 15 days holiday in a year. That is a joke

i just learned something new today. thanks for the info.

Nigeria police should be broken up into 36 state commands completely under the command of the states and no central IG position. current police is a mess.

Konjour:
No,both of them are Seaports because they are directly linked to the South Atlantic.[/b]

No they are not.

must they humiliate him and us with this picture of the guy shiiting. Nigeria is one freaking jungle. 
is this picture real or photoshop?   

chimpanzee and gorilla, which is more "handsome"? lol. guys are wasting bandwidth.

real change is around the corner. we shall get there soon.

she is an agent of true change, that is why she is being resisted. Nigerian politicians hate such people.

There will be a rail link between Akwa ibom and Onicha, and other core eastern states. that is all needed.

The only port in the east that can threaten Lagos is the deep sea port at Ibaka Akwa ibom state. I hear it is deeper than Lagos, so it would berth bigger ships.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
No they are not all "worst". Some are clearly better than others. I don't know why Nigerians like lying a lot. Why can't you guys face the facts for once?

Mods please put this on front page.

Nigerians should know what is going on and be able to say their minds before someone bundles us into government slavery in our own country.
You owe it to your fellow citizens to enlighten them

This law has abuse written all over it. Nigeria is a perfect setting for such abuse law. It will be used by any government in power to victimize opposition.
Opposition is democracy.

[size=14pt]"Those who would sacrifice freedom for security, deserves neither freedom nor security"[/size] -Benjamin Franklin.

This law should be dead on arrival. We need state and local police forces. Every crime in Nigeria can be solved by both.

We don't need a big brother tracking us like animals.

[size=16pt]The proposed law on electronic surveillance[/size]

THE plan by the Federal Government to enact a law on Lawful Interception of Electronic Communication, according to reports, is not unexpected given the rising insecurity in the land. Criminality has obviously found modern technology, especially the mobile phones and the portable computers, handy tools to perpetrate kidnapping, terrorism, murders disguised as religious and ethnic strife and other heinous acts. It was a matter of time therefore that the effort to secure the state and its citizens should be taken to the higher level of electronic surveillance. Nigerians can only hope that the new measure will make a clear difference for the better in the performance of state security agencies who have so far shown utter inability to keep the country safe.

Ordinarily, there is no reason to believe that the monitor of private communication by security agencies is new in Nigeria. However, to make this an official policy demands a legislation that must be well considered in all its ramifications, particularly for the expressed reason that to legalise electronic surveillance is to militarise the state. The burden is on the legislature to enact a law that allays such fears. The bill should be well and widely debated so that, at the end of the day, the rights of the honest citizen are as assured as the security of the country. Besides, no one would want a ‘Big Brother is watching you’ piece of legislation in the hands of some political demagogue masquerading as a patriot. Luckily, there are the experiences of other jurisdictions to learn from. For example, the privacy law must not be compromised.

Second, a cause for concern is the real possibility of abuse of electronic eavesdropping by security operatives to further personal or sectional interest. Third, we live in a country where the line between genuine opposition and treason is defined according to the whims of the powers that be. A law of Lawful Interception can easily be misused against people outside government. So, the proposed law must capture measures against these and other likely abuses. One further step is to establish a body to monitor the monitors and such a body could be made up of persons of age, experience and integrity; and they should be absolutely insulated from partisan politics.

The implementation of the proposed law raises the issue of equipment and data processing. If, as it is likely to be, the equipment is of foreign make, these may require the services of foreigners to operate, to process the information. In effect, foreigners will have unfettered access to sensitive security information on Nigerians and the state. Surely, this would be inimical to our national interest. Government should therefore seek to ‘Nigerianise’ the surveillance technology, for the sake of national security.

[b]Beyond measures to improve national security, however, it does not appear too sensible to devote resources to deter criminality whereas, ab initio, existing social and economic conditions – unemployment and grinding poverty – nurture criminal tendencies. That amounts to putting the cart before the horse. [/b]At the very worst, the two measures ought to be pursued with equal vigour. Government should therefore take the steps to strengthen national security as part of a holistic approach that includes creating a conducive environment for able and willing Nigerians to be productively and gainfully engaged. That way, more citizens would have enough at stake in their country and its safety.

http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=63933:the-proposed-law-on-electronic-surveillance-&catid=37:editorial&Itemid=612

Soon, you will become the property of whoever is on top.
We are Africans, and our forefather lived in absolute freedom no matter the security threat.
We are not rule by fear.
We can never be free if we have someone following us and tracking us.

Nigerians, this is the worst thing that can ever happen to Nigeria.
Fear is a powerful weapon in the hand of those who want to steal our liberty.
Remember the wise words of Benjamin Franklin:

"[size=14pt]Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.[/size]"

Be warned. Be wise!

this is the worst possible thing that can ever happen in Nigeria. It is a blank cheque with no end in sight. it normally begins as a fight against crime or terrorism but will definitely get to innocent people being spied on in their homes.
they watch or listen to you making love to your wife. very terrible deceit.

Soludo is the only solution.

SLS will turn Nigeria into an islamic state overnite

I was always afraid that with our poor environmental control and planning shown by indiscriminate location of industries in rural areas, cancer will be the end result.
Someone please save Nigerians!

Cancer cases increase by 21% in Nigeria –COPE
By Azoma Chikwe
Wednesday, October 05, 2011


As Nigeria joined the world to mark 2011 Breast Cancer Month, reports available show that cancer cases have increased by 21 per cent in the country. At the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), alone, cancer register revealed that out of every 10 cancer cases, five are breast-related, three are cervix while two are other types of cancer.

Disclosing this during a press briefing to mark the month in Lagos, Mrs. Ebunola Anozie, chief executive officer and national coordinator, Care Organisation Public Enlightenment, (C.O.PE), expressed fear that the statistics alone were enough to make a woman think that getting breast cancer at some point in her life was inevitable.
Anozie warned that as a non communicable disease, cancer was the enemy in our midst that threatened us as no war or man made had ever done.

“At least, we are aware that one out of every 12 women will have breast cancer. A woman choice about the way she lives can help lower the risk of developing breast cancer. Together we are committed to treating, beating and defeating breast cancer that is discriminately ravaging our women if only we can work together.”

As a way forward, Anozie advised that government should be proactive and move beyond willingness and develop as well as implement policies that would promote adoption of healthy lifestyle and ensure adequate training of health professionals.
“Public awareness about cancer should be increased. This should extend not only to the health sector but agriculture, sports, education, women affairs and poverty alleviation, information and industry”.

She further expressed fear that if the bull is not taken by the horns it would have adverse effect on our health programmes in the near future. “There is need or collaboration and integration in implementing cancer preventive policies”.
Nigeria should have state of the art equipment in our general hospitals where patients can go for treatment, instead of traveling abroad bearing in mind that 99 per cent of Nigerians cannot afford it.

Continuing, she noted that breast cancer is more prevalent in women in developed countries but the mortality rate is higher in developing countries due to late presentation, ignorance, illiteracy, religious beliefs, stigmatization taboos, and fear of the unknown.
“It is rather unfortunate, that the issue of cancer is being relegated to the background which h should not be. I must reiterate that Federal and State Government should act fast before it becomes a time bomb”, she warned.
She harped on the role of the media as a useful tool against breast cancer if well harnessed.
Anozie pleaded that we should bear in mind that as a developing country, we do not lack compassion or the resources, but lack the desire to move forward. “Our objective is to reduce the suffering of patients. It is true that the only thing people can truly get used to is change, and that also hold true for cancer control.
http://www.sunnewsonline.com/webpages/news/national/2011/oct/05/national-05-10-2011-004.html

I really think that you guys are wasting your time with this debate because we don't have reliable statistics on individual incomes and tribes in Nigeria.
Igbos are in SW in great numbers and so they would skew the data somehow because they may live and do business in the SW but ultimately would send money to SE without anyone measuring that.
The only time we may get reliable statistics is if Igbos go back to SE and stay there. Only then can be begin to guess.

I read somewhere in the past that SE has the highest number of Micro finance banks and institutions. Could that be responsible for the low poverty in that region?

Okay Ndibe may be a Ngige hatchet man afterall, professor or no professor.

Here is a rebuttal to the Okey Ndibe diatribe.


Anambra: May God help Okey Ndibe!
By Valentine Obienyem
Tuesday, October 04, 2011


Photo: Sun News Publishing
More Stories on This Section
On the 27th of August, 2011, Anambra State turned 20. Ordinarily, other leaders would have celebrated such an accomplishment through boisterous merriment. Not given to such indulgence, Governor Peter Obi celebrated it differently by assembling the people of Anambra as has not been witnessed in the past.

Those who attended, included Igwe Alfred Achebe, the Obi of Onitsha who led over 100 Traditional Rulers; Francis Cardinal Arinze; the first Papal Nuncio from Nigeria, Archbishop Jude Okoro; Bishop Owen Nwokolo of the Anglican Diocese on the Niger; Mustapha Chike Obi; Prof. Dora Akunyili; Dr. Oby Ezekwesil; Chief Emeka Anyaoku; Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala(She also delivered a paper); Prof. Charles Soludo; Innocent Egbunike; Mary Onyali-Omagbemi; Stella Oduah, the Minister of Aviation; Prof Barth Nnaji (delivered a paper); almost all Anambra people at the National Assembly, among many others. In fact, it had the setting of the ancient Greek Agora, where men congregated to take decisions on weighty State matters.

As the Governor himself said, the event was not to celebrate vanity, but to celebrate five years of peace in Anambra State and subtly call the attention of our people to their State and invite them to take possession of her. Since the State was created, she has been in the hands of thugs who visited her with rape and rapine thus injuring her in body and spirit. As could be observed, everybody in the State liked what the Governor did. As a result of their harkening to the Governor’s clarion call, a lot of things are happening in the State. I can even use an example to buttress that. As recently reported in the papers, the Managing Director of Genesis Food, Ichie Nneto Orazulike, a big name in the food and catering industry visited the Governor with three white men. Orazulike said that the speech of the Governor appealing to the people of the State to come and assist in her development touched him, and because of that, he had decided to invest heavily in the State with his expatriate counterparts.

Orazulike has a lot of successful businesses in States other than Anambra. During discussion with the Governor, as further reported in the newspapers, he said it was particularly painful to him that he had not been able to establish something really big in the State. He said that people like him were not to blame, but the past political leaders in the State who were totally antithetical to development. He went on to give an example. In his words: “my Governor, it was under a particular leader that the entire patrimony of the State worth over 30 billion Naira was burnt down by the very agents of the State and reactionary forces. If they could do this to the property of the State, what would they not do to the investment of people in the State?” As Orazulike spoke, one could see the pain he was undergoing at what Anambra State used to be. His position mirrors that of many Anambrarians. He capped it up by saying that investing in Anambra before the advent of Governor Obi was like asking somebody to invest in Afghanistan.

Today, under Governor Obi, the entire scenario has changed. We now have quality investment springing up in the State following his tireless efforts. It is glorious that we now have in Anambra State a pharmaceutical company such as Juhel Parenental Drugs manufacturing, Innoson Motor manufacturing, Orange Drugs, amongst others. The most celebrated is the on-going construction of what will become the biggest brewery in Nigeria, the SABMiller facility in Onitsha. In the first phase of the SABmiller foray in the State, it is investing over 120 million Dollars and it is expected that it will expand quickly.

I do not in this article intend to regurgitate what the Governor himself has done in Anambra State that has made him the darling of everybody: donor and international agencies, the Presidency that appointed him into the Economic Management Team and named him an Honorary Adviser on Finance. Apart from the peace that has returned to the State, we experience the hands of a man who really understands what development is. Under him, Anambra has become a state of many firsts. We now have the first teaching hospital nearing completion[b] (Okey Ndibe and his mentor, Ngige, are not happy over the development for the simple reason that it is Obi who is doing it and they made it clear, Okey in his column; Ngige in an Interview that appeared in the Daily Independent of 23rd of September);[/b] the first library, the first Secretariat; the first time roads are constructed in places without roads since Anambra was created; the first time buses, internet, computers, laboratory materials were given to schools, among many other firsts. Some of these things may be called insignificant by critics, but they were not there before.

Even the deaf and dumb can agree that Anambra is a lot better than it ever was. Thus, during the 20th year anniversary, Emeka Anyaoku, the man without cant said that he could now see a more focused development in the State. Every speaker, including Oby Ezekwesili and Chike Obi said the same thing. Interestingly, Dr. Ngozi-Okonjo-Iweala said what was very significant. According to her, Obi is Nigeria’s most fiscally responsible Governor. She went on to urge him to continue doing what he is doing for his State in spite of many wicked and sometimes ignorant and uninformed critics who are always at work.

As she predicted, these critics are at it again! First they did not consider it worth the while calling Anambra people together to discuss the progress of the State. The Saharareporters medium owned by one Sowore Omoleye and Okey Ndibe said that the Government spent 1.5 Billion Naira to stage the event, when, on the contrary, it was mainly sponsored by corporate organizations on the intervention of the Governor. When this could not fly, because everybody in Nigeria knows what is possible or not with Peter Obi, Okey, the nwa nza, after eating to his satisfaction, started to challenge his Chi. In his last piece (Sun of 27/9/11), he berated Chief Emeka Anyaoku for attending the event and for pouring encomiums on Obi.

From the foregoing, one could see how, blinded by passion some people thought to be reasonable, are utterly unreasonable. That his mentor, Dr. Chris Ngige attended the event did not mean anything to him, but for Anyaoku, Okonjo Iweala, Oby Ezekwesili and their likes attending was sacrilegious to him. Is this the Okey that we all thought that we knew? He is the living proof of the saying by Plutarch in his Lives that sometimes you discover the real lives of great men not through the greatest wars they have won or the greatest sieges they have undertaken, but through minor acts of them.

Because Okey is supporting Dr. Chris Ngie, whom a friend told me, without surety though, has promised him some political appointments if he becomes the next Governor of Anambra State, he does not see Ngige’s failings anymore. When Ngige illegally usurped the Governorship, he defended him on the reason that he was building roads. He even boasted that it was because of him that Ngige built the only road around Awka, the Amawbia by-pass, for Okey is from Amawbia. On the contrary, anybody who does not belong to the same political camp as Ngige is a demon that must be exorcised. This is why he has been on the offensive. His articles are derisive, written in periodic sentences whose clauses are lashes. He delights in seeing those lashes fall upon the likes of Akunyili, Andy Ubah, Soludo and Peter Obi. These are people he considers as possible stumbling blocks to his mentor, Ngige, becoming the next Governor and subsequently his grabbing a political appointment.

Because of Ngige, Okey has lost the sense of decorum and the sacred. For him to castigate those that attended the Anambra at 20 celebration in the pages of the newspapers (Sun of 27/9/11) and more pungently in his article on Saharareporters where he called Obi of Onitsha a king out of touch with his Kingdom; Soludo, a pseudo professional; Francis Cardinal Arinze, a failed Cardinal; Mustapha Chike Obi, a prodigal that betrayed his illustrious father; Oby Ezekwesili, a pretender; Dora Akunyili, a confused one; Archbishop Maxwell Anikwenwa, a retire cleric in search of rehabilitation; Bishop Owen Nwokolo, a new Bishop seeking friendship of the governor for whatever it is worth; Dr Dozie Ikedife, a candidate for senility; Chukwuemeka Ezeife, a canonized goat; among others names, is shocking, utterly shocking. As one read him, one could observe righteous indignation here and there. When people reacted angrily or perhaps on the advice of saner minds, they quickly removed the offending piece from Saharareporters.

He is a bad case of what maintaining a column should be. Columnists principally discuss issues. Columnists use their columns to draw attention to what should be done for the good of the society. Columnists use their columns to engage political leaders in manners that are edifying and even ennobling. For using his column as an instrument of blackmail and for settling political scores, Okey has presented himself as one who is unworthy to maintain a column. Perhaps, the judgement of Guardian was right.

Anambra @ 20 celebration remains one of the best things to have happened to Anambra State. After the event, I have been privileged to study its after effects. The celebration drew Anambra people closer on the need not to forsake the State. Today, I know what Mustapha Chike Obi has promised to do in the State as his own support. I am privileged to know that Mr. Okey Ezeibe and his foreign partners have equally hit the ground on investment in the State. I can go on and on.

Okey has become a case of an individual moving against the tide of development because of vested interest. We can do a rejoinder to his jaundiced pieces; we can frown at his futile attempt to attack the cream of our people; we can indulge him a little because his thinking is beclouded by passion, but we must continue to pity him for attempting to do violence to Anambra State as he has since done to himself.
Why has Okey taken everything that has to do with Obi with malice? The other day, when journalists visited Anambra to see what Obi was doing, Sowore and himself used their jointly owned Saharareporters outfit to publish the names of the journalists that came as if they had committed a crime? As for his vilification of the likes of Okonjo-Iweala, Obi of Onitsha, Francis Cardinal Arinze, the Papal Nuncio, Archbishop Jude Okolo, the Anglican Bishop on the Niger, Owen Nwokolo, Mustapha Chike-Obi, Dora Akunyili, Oby Ezekwesili, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, among others. Since it is not in his character to yield ground or apologise, we as Anambra people collectively apologise to them.

Ironically, while he was at his sadistic and pessimistic best, some of our people in Canada led by Mr. Chidi Asidanya were donating, on the 1st of October, over 20,000 volumes of books to Prof. Kenneth Dike Central Library, Awka. These young men who he knew when they were borne are shining example of how our people in the Diaspora can contribute to the development of the State.
May I take this opportunity to also call on those who have answered to the call of the Governor for collective efforts towards driving the development of the State not to be dampened. May those that are still prevaricating, jump on the bandwagon of development for our collective progress.
Anambra adibago nma; nye aka ka odi nma.

•Valentine Obienyem wrote from Awka
http://www.sunnewsonline.com/webpages/news/national/2011/oct/04/national-04-10-2011-0018.html

road construction.

the man responsible